Read Online The Elusive Lord Everhart: The Rakes of Fallow Hall Series by Vivienne Lorret - Free Book Online

and now censure. Pray, which one is it, Miss Croft? For one cannot do both simultaneously.”
    “Are you sure of that?” she challenged, her chin jutting forward. “You’ve made no effort to conceal your state of undress since my arrival. I’m quite certain you are aware that my eyes are at the level of your exposed flesh. Therefore, I would be unable to avoid noting your obvious display of . . . masculinity .” She swallowed. “And—do correct me if I am mistaken—but are you not, even now, caressing my arms as you hold me close?”
    He was, bugger it all! And he wanted to do so much more. A keen, throbbing ache filled his entire body as he pulled her closer. He couldn’t seem to help himself.
    “A moment ago, I was assisting you to the sofa,” she continued, her voice no more than a breath against the open V of his shirt. “And now you’ve maneuvered me into your embrace again, all the while leveling me with the intensity in your gaze and the harshness of your tone. If anyone could manage both seduction and censure, then it is you.”
    He stared down at her, fighting the urge to kiss her with every ounce of his being. It was like trying to hoist the mast of a ship with a single finger. He strained to keep himself still and not lower his head even a fraction.
    If he kissed her now, he would never be free of her. His life would change forever.
    If he kissed her right now, he wouldn’t be able to stop. Ever. That knowledge hit him like a blast of arctic water off the bow of a ship.
    “Miss Croft,” he began with surprising calm, while a sea of thwarted desire raged inside him. “Has anyone ever accused you of having an overactive imagination?”
    She blanched as if he’d thrown the words at her. Beneath his hands, he felt her tense. “Another perfect example of seduction and censure. Very good. You’ve managed to wound me while drawing me closer still.”
    His level of restraint grew weaker by the moment. “Perhaps there is no censure at all, but your own bad opinion of me that overshadows this encounter.”
    “It is not my opinion that needs alteration,” she said on a breath, her ripe bosom rising and falling, drawing unnecessary attention to her own state of undress and forcing him to imagine how easy it would be to remove so few clothes. “It matters not what we think of each other. I will be gone in mere hours. We can both keep what is ours—opinions, censure, and overactive imaginations—in separate houses.”
    “Do not forget to mention nefarious tactics of seduction.” To prove a point, and because he couldn’t resist the urge, he loosened his grasp of one arm without freeing her. In a slow caress, he trailed his fingertips along her shoulder toward her throat, lightly grazing the silken flesh exposed above the prim ruffled edge of her night rail. “Be warned. Should you enter my house again, I cannot be held responsible for my actions.”
    Lifting her hands between their bodies, she settled them atop his chest. Cool on contact, he felt a wayward need to warm them, to chafe them between his own hands.
    “Nor I,” she said with a shove as she stepped out of his embrace before turning on her heel.
    Taken off guard, he lost his footing and fell backward onto the edge of the sofa. His splinted leg shot out and nicked the edge of the low table. Pain knifed through him as he hissed through his teeth. Wincing, he looked up to see if she would look back with concern.
    She didn’t. Instead, she absconded with a brace of candles and left him alone in his misery.

CHAPTER FIVE
    “Y ou are heavy-footed this morning, cousin,” Pamela remarked from her perch on the vanity stool, while her maid brushed her pale hair.
    Calliope suppressed a yawn as she moved about the room, surreptitiously searching for the letter under the guise of positioning trinkets for her cousin’s admiration. Drowsy, she couldn’t stop shuffling her feet. Her slippers felt weighted, as if the ground beneath Fallow Hall were